Email Software
From Entrepedia: The Entrepreneurship Wiki
If you are looking to launch an e-mail campaign as part of your market strategy, then you may look to a company to do the work for you. However, if you decide to take on the task on your own, you will need to be careful that you don't end up on the spam blacklists of your potential customers! For more information about other forms of software that your venture might find both useful and cost-saving, see the Entrepedia articles on general software, anti-virus software, and anti-spyware software. For more IT solutions see the Entrepedia articles on IT Systems and IT Terminology
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E-Mail Campaigns
There are some companies which offer e-mail campaigns to business ventures. Some examples include:
- AWeber Communications
- One of the top e-mail marketing providers available
- Reliable and economical
- Constant Contact
- Free 60 day trial
- Friendly and not overly technologically-oriented
- Media Logistics
- Specifically UK oriented
- Offers DataMaker Online, allows you to create bespoke e-mail marketing lists from a provided database of UK business decision makers
- SparkList
- More expensive, but better suited to high-volume e-mail campaigns
- Hosted by Lyris, which also offers ListManager, a much more high-profile service
- Campaign Monitor
- More design oriented – create beautiful e-mail campaigns
- Price-per-email model, rather than subscription model
Spam Blacklist Prevention
If you are sending a number of emails to your members /clients there are a few actions you can take to prevent your emails from being blacklisted by spam filters.
SPF Record Basics
Summary:
- It stops spammers from hijacking your domain name and sending spam under your domain name.
- It is free
- Check here to see if you have an spf record already: [1]
- To create a record go here: [2]
What is SPF?
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an attempt to control forged e-mail. SPF is not directly about stopping spam – junk email. It is about giving domain owners a way to say which mail sources are legitimate for their domain and which ones aren't. While not all spam is forged, virtually all forgeries are spam. SPF is not anti-spam in the same way that flour is not food: it is part of the solution. SPF was created in 2003 to help close loopholes in email delivery systems that allow spammers to “spoof” or steal your email address to send hundreds, thousands or even millions of emails illicitly. SPF is a protocol developed by a group of motivated volunteers, joined by a mutual desire to improve the operation of the internet. It is NOT a commercial product offered by a for-profit corporation. The SPF protocol is being adopted by a growing number of domain hosts and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and, as in any technology evolution, there will be some bumps on the road. While the people behind this website and the people who have helped develop SPF may be able to help you understand how to solve problems when they arise, they are not directly responsible for the problems you may be experiencing. SPF today is a relatively young technology. It is not user friendly if you are not familiar with e-mail protocols. We know that and we are working on it, but in the mean time, we are here to help if you need it.
What does SPF actually do?
Suppose a spammer forges a hotmail.com address and tries to spam you. They connect from somewhere other than Hotmail. When his message is sent, you see MAIL FROM: <forged_address@hotmail.com>, but you don't have to take his word for it. You can ask Hotmail if the IP address comes from their network. (In this example) Hotmail publishes an SPF record. That record tells you (your computer) how to find out if the sending machine is allowed to send mail from Hotmail. If Hotmail says they recognize the sending machine, it passes, and you can assume the sender is who they say they are. If the message fails SPF tests, it's a forgery. That's how you can tell it's probably a spammer.
Creating an SPF record
We recommend you ask your ISP to help you create this; remember you will need server names and IP address of any third party who is sending emails on your behalf. Some third parties send email campaigns directly, some send via your ISP's server. If in doubt ask them.
Finding your IP address and SMTP settings
Finding your own IP address:
- Step 1: Google search "my ip", then choose one of the listed websites, such as:
Finding your SMTP settings:
- Put your IP address for example into ripe.net advanced search
- You will then be shown details of the broadband provider
- Take these details for example to 'UKOnline DSL Customers'
- You can then find the date on their website
